Just over 9,000 defending troops from Steinbeck Fief fought against over 20,000 undeads for more than two hours before finally being annihilated. Clyde set his command tower alight, pretending to perish together with those at the front. The dozens of Undeads climbing the command tower were also burned to ashes.
Clyde had intentionally suppressed his own aura, making these attacking undeads unable to sense that he was actually a Great Old One. If they hadn’t dared to rush forward, this play wouldn’t have ended with such a perfect ending.
In Earl Hamm’s base at the rear, the soldiers were busy preparing carriages for a quick retreat. They weren’t daring and resolute enough to cut off all their means of retreat like Steinbeck Fief had and directly fight a life-and-death battle against the Undead army. Although the entire army had been wiped out, the Undead army had suffered a big loss. The loss ratio of both sides had been almost one-for-one. After losing more than 10,000 undeads, the Undead army finally captured the trench protected by Steinbeck Fief’s troops.
In such a situation without the assistance of Light Church’s priests, magic, or large-scale defense weapons, and just relying on some drugs, having a casualty ratio like this was a miracle. Earl Hamm and his brother Baron Hake looked at each other in blank dismay and used a telescope to observe the burning trench defensive line with lingering fear.
“I didn’t expect that administrative officer to be so heroic. It’s a pity, but it’s good. If we had let this kind of talent grow in Victor Alliance, then sooner or later, they would threaten our Clark Alliance. Now that the Undead have rid us of this hidden danger, a big trouble has been eliminated for us.”
“Brother’s words are right. Merely, we have lost 50,000 gold coins. If I had known this earlier, I would have made Viscount Peter offer less. Now, like this, we cannot recover the money.”
“Forget it. Just treat it as having spent money to purchase a scapegoat and some cannon fodder. More importantly, what’s going on with Casper River’s dam? Why hasn’t it detonated yet? Did something happen?”
In his base, Viscount Peter observed the final fight of Steinbeck Fief’s defending troops using a telescope with his cousin Knight Peer. These two aristocrats were solemn and didn’t speak casually like Earl Hamm and Baron Hake. Although they were from the same camp and aristocrats of the same kingdom, their ways of treating this matter were different.
“Ai, if I had known this would result earlier, I would have given that youth more money. Peer, after the war, arrange for someone to secretly send 20,000 gold coins to Steinbeck Fief, but don’t indicate it came from us.”
“This… isn’t that a bit inappropriate? If the matter of our sending money to Victor Alliance’s area were found out, we will be branded as criminals for colluding with the enemy.”
“Since we have already given them money, there will be no problems. Just sending gold coins like before will be enough. Prepare to withdraw. There has been no response from Casper River. The situation might have changed. We can’t rely on Earl Hamm and Baron Hake.”
At this moment, the Undead army that broke through Steinbeck Fief’s army’s defensive line but didn’t continue to rush towards Samuel Village, just like Clyde had expected. Instead, they stopped for a short while. Only after the Undead in the rear converged, did they quickly charge toward the campsites of Earl Hamm and Viscount Peter.
In Samuel City, there were over 100,000 demonic creatures under the command of Ancient Demon King Andrisno. Even after converging, the Undead barely numbered 20,000. They didn’t dare to attack Samuel City, this hard bone, so they could only choose the pushovers. Attacking the human army and turning them into Undead to expand their numbers was their objective.
Just a moment ago, the Undead army had suffered a big loss. The soldiers of the other side had already entered half-dead states and hadn’t become new Undead. In order to capture that defended area, the Undead army had instead lost over 10,000 troops. If the human armies of the remaining two camps also faced death unflinchingly and took such suicidal drugs, it was possible for them to perish together with the Undead army, ending this calamity. Merely, they were not that courageous.
The movement of the Undead army was very fast. They arrived at the temporary campsites of the two Adelaide Kingdom’s aristocrats before they could react. Compared to the heroic and fearless defending troops of Steinbeck Fief, Adelaide Kingdom’s defending troops were terrified and quickly retreated in defeat. All threw away their helmets and armors and vied to be the first ones to flee. The already weak defense line, because of these deserters, crumpled as morale dipped, allowing the undead army to tear through. Now, only blood-curdling screams resounded throughout the defenders.
In the sky, one of the ace knight regiments of Augusta Empire watched the battle. The commander of Olide Griffin Knight Regiment, Aosi, along with “Extreme Night Princess” Ophelia observed with complicated expressions. If they didn’t assist Adelaide Kingdom’s defending troops, they could not justify not assisting an ally as both parties were still members of Clark Alliance. But, if they assisted, they would risk Augusta Empire’s ace knight regiment, a big loss.
The fearlessness of Steinbeck Fief’s army starkly contrasted Adelaide Kingdom’s deserting troops. If it were not for the issue of their warring camps, Princess Ophelia would have definitely chosen to assist Steinbeck Fief’s army and abandoned Adelaide Kingdom without the slightest hesitation, letting them perish on their own.
Now, Augusta Empire had control over Casper River’s dam. Nevertheless, what made Princess Ophelia helpless was that she herself had no effective way to solve the Undead calamity in Atad. The troops of Light Church were professional in dealing with Undead calamities. If they didn’t come, then Princess Ophelia, this kind of amateur personage, had no way to resolve this crisis. Her military tactics were all directed against human armies. If the enemy’s troops were not living people, then Princess Ophelia couldn’t plan for all situations.
The usual military tactics of Princess Ophelia were useless against an Undead army. The opposite side could replenish itself for every life taken, and her methods couldn’t defeat them. In the end, Princess Ophelia discovered to her dismay that she had no choice but to follow Earl Hamm and Viscount Peter’s plan. Blowing up Casper River’s dam with explosive barrels was a gamble on whether the flood would flush away the Undead army of Atad to the nearby Adrian Empire.
“Your Highness the Princess, must you blow up the dam… Is there no other way to deal with this? Yet, Earl Hamm and Viscount Peter, these two idiots will definitely gift soldiers to the Undead army. At that time, it will be even harder to deal with.”
“Commander Aosi, I… if I truly order it, regardless of its success, many people will be killed.”
“Your Highness the Princess, calm down. Wait a minute, and it might take a turn for the better.”
Commander Aosi keenly noticed that Princess Ophelia’s trembling hand rested on an exquisite dagger at her waist and that she seemed to be in a mental struggle. It was not an ordinary dagger, but a special dagger used by Augusta Empire’s imperial family to commit suicide by cutting their throats to avoid being captured alive upon defeat. At this moment, Princess Ophelia had already made a decision. Once she blew up Casper River’s dam, regardless of the final outcome, she would take all responsibility.
Even if the flood didn’t rush towards Augusta Empire, but rather rushed towards Adrian Empire, just looking at the areas of Adelaide Kingdom where the flood would pass through, at least 100,000 soldiers and civilians would be killed. If she truly took this step, she could only atone for this crime through death. Commander Aosi had been her bosom friend for many years, how could she watch her close friend die like this? She immediately persuaded Princess Ophelia to calm down.
“Your Highness the Princess, since this is such a big Undead calamity, the gods in heaven will not sit by and watch without care. Even if Light Church is temporarily not free to deal with this, the gods will intervene.”
“Gods… if the gods truly wanted to intervene, they would have already come… Aosi, you…”
“Sorry. Your Highness the Princess, I can’t see you get into trouble.”
Aosi took advantage of the moment when Princess Ophelia was inattentive to knock her out. When that step was truly the only resort, Aosi resolved to take all responsibility for blowing up Casper River’s dam instead of Princess Ophelia.
Clyde was entirely unaware of the dilemma the other forces faced on how to deal with the outbreak in Atad. After escaping the fire, he quietly changed into his form as a Great Old One and hid in the trench littered with corpses. Not long after, he caught the emissaries that would lead the souls of the newly deceased across. He didn’t want to let these over 9,000 soldiers pass on just like this. It was time to wake them up.
There were two emissaries of relatively high rank who had come to lead these souls. Generally, only in large-scale battles where many died, would such high-ranked emissaries appear. This time, the emissaries attracted by Steinbeck Fief were Divine Realm’s high-level Death Angel Somar and Ghost Realm’s Death God Melis. These two had come to lead the souls of the newly deceased to heaven and hell (Ghost Realm). Demon Realm didn’t participate in leading the souls of the newly deceased. Evil spirits would sign up for Demon Realm by themselves; an emissary was not required.
Somar and Miles stood back to back with tense expressions. Their beautiful faces were covered with cold sweat. Just after arriving, they had been surrounded by black tentacles. This kind of evil existence had a special restraining effect against girls. Even these two high-leveled goddesses couldn’t avoid this latent attribute.
“What terrifying energy… you, who exactly are you!”
“Miss Goddesses, I want these over 9,000 souls to stay here. You two should understand what I mean!”
“What, this… how is that possible? They are all dead, and the dead must go to… Wait, we can discuss.”
“There’s no need to discuss anything. I will detain you two and wait for your superior to personally come have a chat.”
